The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Vote as EU deal sealed
Referendum vote – but already suffers setback as Gove signals opposition
state explicitly that references to the requirement to seek ever-closer union “do not apply to the United Kingdom”.
The Cabinetmeeting will be the first to be held on a Saturday since the Falklands War, and was demanded by Eurosceptic ministerswhodid notwant the Prime Minister to have free rein to trumpet the merits of the deal all week- end while they remained gagged. Mr Cameron has previously promised to suspendthe principle of collective responsibility after the meeting, giving a green light to Eurosceptic ministers like Iain Duncan Smith and Chris Grayling to go out and campaign for Britain to leave Europe withouthaving to quit their jobs.
Leaked copies of the deal indicated that a compromise deal will allow existing claimants to carry on receiving child benefit in full for offspring living overseas until 2020, but that all member states will then be able to pay them at the rate of their home country. This rate – usually lower than that paid to British parents – will be applicable immediately to all new migrants with chil- dren living abroad after the agreement comes into force. The agreement falls well short of the outright ban on sending child benefit abroad initially demanded by Mr Cameron, and marks a compromise solution with eastern European states who had insisted t hat existing claimants should continue to receive the full payment until their sons and daugh- ters reach adulthood - something rejected as “not acceptable” by the prime minister.
A lengthy section making clear that the phrase “ever closer union” in EU treaties is not “in legal terms an equivalent to political integration” was struck out, in an apparent response to Belgian sensitivities. But the new text makes clear t hat EU treaties will be amended to state explicitly that references to ever closer union “do not apply to the United Kingdom”.
An “emergency brake” on in-work welfare payments for migrant workers will be made available for seven years – with no option for extensions – in cases where member states are facing excessive strain from new arrivals.